14 Service Providers Most Likely to Lower Your Bill If You Ask

Feeling sticker shock every time a phone, cable or internet bill arrives? Depending on which company provides the service, lower rates may be just a phone call away.

LendEDU recently analyzed data from Truebill, a personal finance tracker, budget planner and bill reminder app that helps people manage their subscriptions, to determine which service providers are most likely to drop their prices if asked.

The bad news is that if you use T-Mobile, you’re unlikely to get a price break. T-Mobile customers had a 10% to 19% success rate when trying to negotiate down their bills. LendEDU says that’s “far and away the lowest success rate” of the 17 service providers included in the analysis.

So, how much money do you stand to save by asking a service provider for a better rate?

For 16 of the 17 companies included in LendEDU’s analysis, customers received 10% to 29% in savings, on average. However, SiriusXM was willing to drop prices by an average of 40% or more for those who asked.

How to negotiate your bills

When it comes to this method of lowering bills, you have two options: Negotiate them yourself, or use a service that will do the negotiating for you.

Negotiating yourself is technically as simple as picking up the phone and asking for a lower rate. Companies may be more likely to do so if, as leverage, you mention that you’re thinking of canceling their service or that you’ve received a better offer from a competitor.

If you’d rather not make those calls, you could enlist the help of a third-party service such as Trim or BillCutterz. These services do all the negotiating on your behalf. If they succeed, they take a cut of the money they save you.

View this page without ads

Maryalene LaPonsie

After 13 years as a staffer for a Michigan legislator, I decided it was time to quit the commute and work from home instead. For the past three years, I’ve been penning ... More

After 13 years as a staffer for a Michigan legislator, I decided it was time to quit the commute and work from home instead. For the past three years, I’ve been penning articles on everything from personal finance to parenting, although politics remains my passion. I’m a numbers geek who loves helping others find the right balance between frugal finances and living life deeply. When I’m not writing, I’m busy trying to raise my and my late husband’s five children to be compassionate people, critical thinkers and lifelong learners.